US to Announce Trade Enforcement Action Linked to India

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Will respond to US trade action at WTO: India - Moneycontrol.com

India said on Tuesday it will respond to any U.S. trade action, a day after Washington said it would take India to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in order to gain a bigger foothold for U.S. manufacturers in its fast-growing solar products market.

"India will respond at the WTO adequately," Trade Minister Anand Sharma told reporters. "We may also have some issues with them with regard to solar. We may also have an application or may move the WTO."

The Obama administration said on Monday it was filing its second case at the WTO over the domestic content requirements in India's massive solar program, which aims to ease chronic energy shortages in Asia's third-largest economy.

Read more at: Will respond to US trade action at WTO: India - Moneycontrol.com

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Great !! Gone are the days of timidness, I suppose !! America needs to be shown it's place at the door.

 

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"We think this is actually going to be harmful to us. It would be harmful to the American economy and, frankly, it would be harmful to the relationship" between the two countries, Jaishankar told AFP in an interview.

"Once I feel I'm not getting a fair deal, I am less responsive to the concerns of the other party. Then tomorrow if an American company comes and says, 'You know, we've got this set of problems,' the temptation for me is to say, 'I'm out for lunch,'" he said.

India warns US of consequences on visa reform - Times Of India

Please see the article for more reading and a pic of Ambassador Jaishankar, the NO NONSENSE MAN !!

 

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US launches investigation into 'discrimination' in Indian laws - The Hindu

India's policies for regulating foreign trade and investment, particularly in the context of intellectual property rights (IPR) affecting the pharmaceutical industry, were in the crosshairs of the US Congress this week, as a lengthy investigation was launched into whether such policies were harming the US economy by discriminating against American firms.

The "fact-finding" investigation on 'Trade, Investment, and Industrial Policies in India: Effects on the US Economy,' which kicked off on Wednesday, is being undertaken by the US International Trade Commission upon authorisation by the Senate Finance Committee and the House of Representatives' Ways and Means Committee.

The launch of the investigation comes in the wake of an increasingly strident tenor of debate on whether India's IP environment, relating to generic pharmaceuticals and copyright issues linked to music and film piracy, and similar concerns, is "deteriorating," or whether India is simply prioritising access, for example to life-saving drugs, over commercial profits.

At the heart of the discussion are India's decisions to deny patents to certain cancer drugs such as Novartis' Glivec and Bayer's Nexavar, even as it granted compulsory licenses to domestic producers of generic versions of these drugs.

The USITC process comes a day after the US Trade Representative (USTR) announced that the agency was seeking World Trade Organisation (WTO) dispute consultations with India over the latter's local content requirements for solar panel manufacturing, which is alleged to discriminate against US producers of solar components.

The investigation also comes as the USTR called for hearings, starting on February 24, to prepare its 2014 "Special 301 Report" on the adequacy of IP rights protection by US trading partners.

In its 2013 report the agency noted, "India remains on the Priority Watch List"¦ [after it made] limited progress in improving its weak IPR legal framework and enforcement system," further emphasising, "In many areas, however, IPR protection and enforcement challenges are growing, and there are serious questions regarding the future condition of the innovation climate in India across multiple sectors and disciplines."

Yet, India has challenged some of the arguments underlying such claims, particularly questioning the methodologies used by the US Chamber of Commerce's Global Intellectual Property Centre (GIPC) in its 'Global International IP Index," which ranked India among the lowest of 25 countries worldwide.

The mandate of the bipartisan Commission convening this week is to consider testimonies from a wide range of stakeholders and "enumerate restrictive trade and investment policies that India maintains or has recently adopted, determine which sectors of the US economy are most affected by these policies, and describe the competitiveness of Indian firms in these sectors."

This week the Commission will hear from 22 members of industry and experts, of whom 12 were said to be likely to emphasise problematic aspects of Indian laws dealing with foreign trade and investment and ten who may speak of their positive attributes.

Among those who may cite concerns with India's IPR the list of those testifying to the Commission includes the Alliance for Fair Trade with India, the National Association of Manufacturers, the GIPC, the International Intellectual Property Alliance, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and the Biotechnology Industry Organisation.

Organisations that may speak up for the benefits derived from Indian regulations for foreign trade and investment include the Confederation of Indian Industry, the National Association of Software and Service Companies and the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance.

While Indian embassy representatives are not formally involved in the investigation in Washington, since a sovereign entity such as the Government of India would not subject itself to interrogation by the legislature of a different country, New Delhi has been closely monitoring developments and continued to emphasise that Indian regulations are broadly favourable to foreign trading and investment partners.

The USITC however aims to perform a "quantitative analysis" of the effects of certain Indian policy measures and after its members visit to India to conduct a range of interviews with government officials and private sector stakeholders, it will deliver a report to the Congressional Committees by November 30, 2014.

 

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US-India trade group cautions Washington against anti-India steps - The Times of India

WASHINGTON: In the midst of a virtual trade war with India, a key US trade group is cautioning Washington to avoid unnecessary steps that would threaten US-India relations and a shared, vibrant knowledge economy.

India's size, economic prominence, geopolitical influence and shared values with America make it an indispensable ally, US-India Business Council (USIBC) president Ron Somers argues in a testimony for a bipartsan US fact finding body.

Therefore any and all policy discussions about India should operate from that understanding, he says in his brief for the US International Trade Commission (ITC) hearing on "Trade, Investment, and Industrial Policies in India: Effects on the US Economy."

Somers, executive head of the trade group comprised of nearly 350 of America's and India's top companies dedicated to enhancing the US-India commercial relationship, "will call on both countries to overcome challenges and strengthen their partnership," USIBC said.

"This will pave the way for the world's two largest free-market democracies to shape the destiny of the 21st century - for the better," he said.

Somers is scheduled to appear before the commission on Thursday, but a massive winter storm is likely to delay the hearing by a day.

With a population of 1.24 billion people, more than half under the age of 25, India is poised "to become the world's largest consumer market," Somers will note, USIBC said.

These facts, coupled with the growth of India's middle-class present "an extremely lucrative market for American goods and services."

Since President George W. Bush visited India in 2006, two-way trade has grown from approximately $25 billion to more than $100 billion today, USIBC noted. The growth of India's civil aviation industry has been a major boon for US manufacturers.

"Entire fleets of India's new private aviation industry rely wholly on US exports and content, creating literally hundreds of thousands of jobs here in the United States," Somers will testify.

India's commitment to democracy, especially in a troubled region of the world, means that America should embrace the relationship even when there are the inevitable disagreements on government policies, USIBC said.

At the same time, USIBC chief also suggested that India should take a number of steps to boost trade and give the US better access to India's economy.

Such steps include improving infrastructure and creating a regulatory environment that rewards and protects intellectual property.

"These and other issues can and must be resolved through ongoing cooperation and dialogue," Somers said.

"Similarly, the United States must avoid unnecessary steps that would threaten US-India relations and a shared, vibrant knowledge economy," Somers cautioned.

The USITC is conducting the investigation at the request of the Senate Committee on Finance and the House Committee on Ways and Means. The Commission will deliver its report to the Committees by Nov 30.

The two day US ITC hearing into India's allegedly discriminatory policies against US trade and investments that began Wednesday follows a series of apparently concerted moves against India.

On Monday the US Trade Representative (USTR) dragged India to the World Trade Organization (WTO) to challenge India's domestic content requirements in Phase II of India's National Solar Mission ("NSM").

Last Week, US Chamber of Commerce asked the USTR to designate India a Priority Foreign Country "in order to strengthen engagement with India to address the rapidly deteriorating intellectual property environment in this market."

A couple of weeks ago the chamber's Global Intellectual Property Centre (GIPC) index put India at the bottom among 25 countries, on protection for intellectual property environment.